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FreelanceWizard · **08-10-2013, 06:10 PM**

(08-10-2013, 05:50 PM)Tsalmaveth Wrote: Are the Miqo'te still living in clans away from other races or are they more or less fully integrated into society and living in the cities and settlements along side Hyur and so on? I guess I just assumed all the races still tended to gravitate to their own groupings except for the major cities(Ul'dah, Gridania and Limsa basically).

That's a point of some contention, as you can see. Smile

Let me speak to the miqo'te on this, since I know their lore better than I know other races' lore.

What we know by lore thus far is that, post-Calamity, refugees started heading to the city-states, with Ul'dah being afflicted by this most of all (main scenario quest, ARR, around level 16). We also know that Keepers of the Moon have historically been viewed as poachers by Gridanians, but that many have managed to work through that to live in Gridania (main site). As for the Seekers, a small number of them live in Limsa Lominsa, with others living in the Sagolii desert (main site). We know about the way miqo'te live in their tribes or family units from their naming conventions thread. We also know miqo'te are territorial, with the males especially reclusive (main site).

In game, you see miqo'te everywhere, though often less than other PC races. This is where the disagreement lies, you see: we have conflicting lore sources. On the one hand, the devs have given us considerable information on how miqo'te typically live. On the other, you see miqo'te showing up in cities. The resolution to this that I use -- which is speculative, since the devs haven't cleared this up -- is that most miqo'te are living outside of cities, in the "grey areas" of the world that the game doesn't let us see, largely in their traditional way. However, some smaller number were born in the city-states, lived in one their entire lives, or adopted the culture when they moved there (perhaps to be an adventurer). These are the miqo'te you see in the cities, and they seem to maintain their naming conventions but not, so much, their traditional cultural elements.

Of course, like I said, since the devs haven't cleared things up, that's all speculative, and others have different opinions on the matter. Personally, I feel my explanation above works well because it doesn't exclude anyone the ability to RP what they want; it puts no limits on what people can play (tribal, non-tribal, etc.). However, it doesn't really address the rarity issue that you raised, on which different people have different opinions.

Aysun · **08-10-2013, 09:47 PM**

First to clear things up~ Clans are the two 'kinds' of Miqo'tes. One clan is the Seekers of the Sun, while the other clan is the Keepers of the Moon.

What we're talking about here are the tribes, which were first introduced to us via the naming conventions thread. I have no doubt that when ancestral Miqo'te first came to Eorzea over 1500 years ago they all lived in their tribes and were recluses. But Eorzea is a melting pot of cultures and races, and the in-game evidence thus far suggests that the tribal way of life is not something that all Miqo'te still practice, despite the naming conventions still being followed across the board. The Seeker females you see in and around Limsa live normally judging by their various occupations, and they far outnumber the lone tribe that is shown in the game. The naming conventions thread to me described how the naming conventions of the Miqo'te came about, rather than how they all live currently, especially since none of it was known in 1.0 what so ever. That said, even the tribe that does exist are very civilized and obviously have taken in the Eorzean ways of life in addition to their own. They're well dressed, they have nice homes with furniture and lights.. They're not feral or any such things. They're just a tribe, united by family bonds. I'd imagine the truly isolated Miqo'te tribe to be even a more rare thing to find than a regular one. But this is all opinion, and it varies from player to player based on our interpretations.

The thing is that either way anyone can play a Miqo'te how ever they want. If everyone wants to be in a tribe, or if everyone wants to be a city-Miqo'te, it doesn't really matter! The distribution of what is rare or common in game is set in stone via NPCs, but in OUR characters it can and will be what ever we want. There are a ton of Miqo'te RPers. That's known. There is no lore explanation we can use for that or any other rarity that is common in the RP world (Garleans, Ala Mhigans, etc!). We roll with it. As RPers we can't treat Miqo'te men as rare as the lore says they are, because we meet them so often. There just won't be any eyebrows raised at your character's presence. Unfortunately that's just how it is. Write where your character came from, and then focus on the RP! Smile

allgivenover · **08-10-2013, 10:03 PM**

(08-10-2013, 09:47 PM)Aysun Wrote: That said, even the tribe that does exist are very civilized and obviously have taken in the Eorzean ways of life in addition to their own. They're well dressed, they have nice homes with furniture and lights.. They're not feral or any such things. They're just a tribe, united by family bonds.

It's a common misconception that tribal peoples are savage or "uncivilized" as a rule, nothing about the lore so far suggests that Miqo'te are savage aside from the lone detail that the Tia/Nunh struggle can sometimes end in death. I feel that perhaps some of the hostility towards the tribal lore is perhaps bound in this incorrect assumption that being "tribal" comes hand in hand with being backward, ignorant, violent (or feral as you put it) and uncivilized. Once again I liken it to modern Native American tribes, who are very modern while holding on to old tribal customs within their communities. Don't mistake my position as insisting that there are no non-tribal Miqo'te, as I said we have little to go on regarding how many stick to traditional ways beyond naming conventions. What I am advocating is that we don't know for sure, and at the moment there's no definitive evidence one way or the other which is more common for a the average Miqo'te.

I think that the complete adherence to the naming conventions suggest that most Miqo'te have at least a passive connection to tribal roots in some form, but that's just my interpretation of what we see so far.

T'salmaveth · **08-10-2013, 10:04 PM**

Thank you for the replies. ^_^ I just wanted to be sure that any writing I did for T'sal's backstory and view on things meshes with the RP community's over-view on things. I did not play much of 1.0 at all and was then too busy with the games I was working on job-wise to play anything for awhile so I'm wanting to be sure I don't A)tread on any toes and B)sound like a twit(more than usual).

I'm almost done with the writing for his wiki and will then take some time to read through more of the stories and RPs here.

Thanks again! I love lore-learning. :3

FreelanceWizard · **08-11-2013, 11:20 AM**

@T'salmaveth: We're happy to help out. Smile

Because of how the lore in XIV is, there'll inevitably be disagreements, but hopefully seeing the various sides of the issue and the thought processes behind those will help you come to your own conclusion.

As a side note, I wanted to point out something subtle, yet awesome, that's happened in this thread. Smile

Aysun and I seem to have a difference in opinion on how to interpret the (admittedly often contradictory) miqo'te lore OOC. However, since our interpretations don't make categorical, absolute statements about all miqo'te, if our characters meet and this topic comes up, they can have a discussion about it IC and build a bridge between the two perspectives. Both characters can chalk up their views (informed by our OOC interpretations) to what they've seen IC, and they can discuss that fruitfully; neither character has to point at the other and say, "you're nuts." In short, we can handle the difference entirely IC.

The moral of this story is that, when interpreting lore -- especially if there's grey areas in it (and XIV has a lot of those) -- it's always best to "leave the door open," so to speak, by not taking a universal stance on it. If possible, you always want to leave room to say, "but that was just my experience" ICly. That way, you can RP with people who may have different takes on the lore.

T'salmaveth · **08-11-2013, 12:10 PM**

I agree! Seeing the differences and comments here have very much helped me in the way I wrote up T'sal's childhood... not so much because of how HE was touched by it but more where his parents had come from and their opinions.

I actually enjoy lore that has some grey-area wiggle room. It lets people play around a bit more and be creative/unique without having to slip dangerously close to the Mary Sue cliff-edge.

I got T'sal's wiki done last night around 3am, so hopefully it all makes sense/works out... though I need to start sketching to break up some of that Wall 'o Text that will probably make some people wince. XD Aaaaah, it's been too long since I got to do so this, I've missed indepth character creation/writing. Heart

Oh, and his Wiki, in case anyone had any issue with how I worked the random bits of Miqo'te lore in. (IE: His father was from a more integrated Miqo'te family group whereas his mum was from a very old-fashioned reclusive group.)

Sini'to Shadar · **08-11-2013, 07:05 PM**

(08-11-2013, 11:20 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: *snip*

Just wanted to say: its great to see people discussing things like adults, without getting angry or something. Really nice for a change.

Aerion · **08-12-2013, 11:57 AM**

I'm glad you made this thread, its quite informative and very inspirational!

Thank you.

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A little male Miqo'te lore help?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes